MP Amodoi to be Honored on Friday as UPC asks Parliament to Investigate His Death

Today Parliament observed a minute of silence to remember Hon. Cyrus Amodoi, who died in a road accident Tuesday, 14 March 2017.

Toroma County MP Cyrus Amodoi Imalingat and 12 other people wperished on Tuesday night in an accident involving three vehicles in Kitigoma in Buikwe district on the Jinja-Kampala highway.

According to eye witnesses, a trailer carrying goods from the Bidco factory in Jinja heading to Kampala, lost control and rammed into two computer taxis at Kitigoma on the Jinja-Kampala highway. One of the taxis was from Mbale heading to Kampala and the other was headed in the opposite direction.

The crash occurred at night and nine people died on the spot. Residents joined the Police to pull out survivors from the mangled vehicles and rushed them to Kawolo hospital in neighbouring Buikwe district and others to Jinja regional referral hospital.

Rt. Hon. Oulanyah also announced that the Parliament would hold a special sitting on Friday, 17th March, 2017 to honour the Late Amodoi.

The late Amodoi will lay in state for public viewing at Parliament on Friday morning, before the special sitting of the House later the same day on Friday.

On Saturday, the Katakwi district council will honor him before burial on Sunday 19th March 2017 in Magoro sub-county, Toroma County in Katakwi district.

Addressing journalists at the UPC headquarters, Party Spokesperson Micheal Osinde Orach says the manner in which the legislator died leaves a lot of unanswered questions and asked parliament to commence investigation into his death.

Osinde says the MP could have resorted to using a taxi because he had no fuel for his car or probably had no personal car to use thus calling for further investigations.

He advises people to avoid traveling in the night and for drivers to drive carefully.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah, has asked legislators to preach safe road usage among their constituencies.
“I urge all MPs to sensitise your people about safe use of roads. We cannot continue losing our people in ghastly road accidents,” said Hon. Oulanyah.
Hon. Cyrus Amodoi Imalingat was an Independent Member of Parliament for Toroma County in Katakwi district.

He held a Bachelors of Education degree from Makerere and other qualifications in Security. He served on the committees on Human Rights and Defence and Internal Affairs.

Oulanyah said that road accidents negatively impacted on the economy and that the affected families never recover from the loss.
“Although several Police initiatives to make Ugandan roads safe like ‘Fika Salama’ have helped improve the situation on the roads, we as MPs also need to talk to our constituents, drivers and road users about the safe use of the roads,” he said.